I've avoided contact with this movie and its remake up until now because its always been marketed like a horror flick. Even the case on this newest DVD release has "horror" all over it. But during South By South West, I heard murmurings in several dark corners that the original Wes Craven wasn't really a horror or slasher film at all. This got my interest just because I wondered how something that I've heard about my whole life - a movie considered by many to be among the greatest horrorfilms - isn't actually a horror film.
So I get the old Region 1 fired up and, let me tell ya, I was impressed. I, of course, think of Wes Craven as the Freddy Kruger guy - monsters and supernatural, if thoughtful, schlock - which I can appreciate but ain't exactly my cup of cheap beer. Here I am expecting big music over big credits... then the movie starts.
The DVD, when inserted into player, starts the movie automatically - a feature I could honestly do without but at the same time I'm tired of menus that give away too much. So, my official stance on Autostart is a steadfast "Meh". The first images come up before any titles and with zero music.
We have a sequence of shots with that color quality that screams early 70s indie but the shots are of beautiful fall nature scene - allowing the quality, or lack thereof, to give it a charming texture. We ease through these before finding some settings with characters. At this point we get music - pleasant, folksy pop music!? The musical style carries us into the world of a pretty teenage girl with loving if possibly overprotective (read: normal) parents.
She is soon found frolicking in the world with an equally attractive female friend. With this combination of music and imagery you can't help but feel like you're in a coming-of-age/ female self-discovery story.
Then a switch is flipped, and the innocent world of the two girls crashes into another world completely. They are abducted by a small gang of prison escapee rapists/killers. This anticipation building method is a trick famously used by Hitchcock and, I think, successfully borrowed here by Craven.
The trick evolves into this juxtaposition structure where we are repeatedly thrown back and forth between rape/torture and Ward and June Cleaver.
This is Wes Craven's first movie - and it tells on itself in ways both good and bad. On the one hand there are some editing choices that feel a little awkward and the audio work isn't the best. Also, his casting could have been better, but I think the negatives are far outweighed by the good stuff. There are so many awesome things that any director who "knew better" wouldn't have had the cajones to do.
The actors portraying the oddball collective that makes up the gang of criminals are allowed to employ a very free and loose style of acting that puts us in these strange situations where, even though they are perpetrating what are among the vilest of assaults we can easily find ourselves wanting to laugh WITH them at points.
The blood used by Craven, now the standard, looks completely real - especially when compared to what most movies used at the time. He didn't shy away from violence that was shockingly real. Violence that made me scour the internet to see if it had been based on a true story. It wasn't, but I can totally see why the distribution companies in Germany tried to claim that it was a snuff film.
And don't miss Martin Kove (The leader of the Cobra-Kai Dojo in the first "Karate Kid") as a bumbling Barney Fife-type deputy! Also, the DVD has a ton of great features that the kids will all love. Really, let your kids see it so they can be up all night screaming with nightmares! The film is fun for the whole family.
I drew a lot of parallels (all positive) between this and "Deliverance" and also "I Spit on Your Grave". The structure is oddly mesmerizing and delivers great violence that leads to a lovely ultra-violent ending that had me cheering.
The Last House on the Left (Unrated Collectors Edition) is now available at Amazon . As of yet, there is not a release date for this version of the DVD in the UK. Visit the DVD database for more information.
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